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the_cedar_lawn_house

Grafting pear or quince trees

First time poster

I've got about a dozen pear trees (maybe quince) on my property and they produce some of the most disgusting pears you can imagine. Primarily, they are overly tannic acidic. Even the deer don't eat them until the pears have frozen and thawed. I do have some great apple trees.

Can I expect to successfully graft nashi pear scions onto the pear trees?

Can I expect to successfully graft apple scions onto the pear trees?

Do you think I can cut them completely and graft onto the trunk or do I need to let a percentage of the original tree live?

Any thoughts or ideas?

Comments (7)

  • murkwell
    15 years ago

    Whether quince or pear there is a very good chance that they are amenable to grafts of nashi pear.

    Its very unlikely that you can successfully graft most varieties of apple onto them. The variety Winter Banana apple is compatible with some pears. You may be able to graft that and grow it for apples or use as an interstem for other apple varieties.

    I have some growing on my sister's pear tree and it produced an apple in the second leaf. That same european pear has Hosui grafts on it that have been doing great as well as several varieties of quince and european pear.

  • marknmt
    15 years ago

    Do let major scaffold branches of the rootstock tree remain- grafting to the trunk is probably doable but not a first choice.

    It's always nice to graft to a rootstock of similar caliper to that of the scion, especially when doing whip and tongue or whip, and even with cleft grafting, although you surely can graft well to considerably larger stock.

    Cutting the trees off altogether may kill them or may result in a number of shoots- it would be possible to graft to the shoots, but it would be years before you got any fruit this way.

    I would leave a fair amount of the original tree to keep the tree fed. Each year you could work over say, one third of the tree. If you thin the tree considerably and then graft to pencil-to-thumb sized branches, and keep the grafts close to the point that the branch is attatched, you should get good growth right away and maybe a bloom the second year (although it might be wiser to prevent it fruiting too young).

    Those are just my thoughts on the subject- and subject to correction and other's observations, of course.

  • the_cedar_lawn_house
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks for the ideas.

    Is there a setting on these forums that would email me when someone replies to my post?

    I haven't personally grafted before and as it turns out there is a Cornell Cooperative Extension class on tree grafting that is coming up soon and close by as well. I expect to get a lot of info there.

  • marknmt
    15 years ago

    I can't get the setting to send me those emails, but there is a link at the bottome of this page that is supposed to do what you want.

    I hope you have fun grafting. It's pretty neat, I think.

    :-)M

  • boizeau
    15 years ago

    The Asian Pear does not do well on Euro root. The grafts will 'take' but they will not grow very much and it severely dwarfs the asian scion.
    Quince can be rooted from cuttings.
    Asian Pear needs a special rootstock to do well.

  • sergio_loddi
    11 years ago

    can I be so rude and ask
    where do you scions fro asian pears ???
    sergio

  • skyjs
    11 years ago

    Many pears aren't compatible with quince rootstock, so be careful even of which Euro pears you graft on.

    Scions from Asian pears or other fruit come from a local fruit club, like Home Orchard Society in Oregon, Seattle Fruit Society,or many in California . You can probably buy them online. Google Asian pear scions. There are also online exchanges.
    John S
    PDX OR

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